The present invention is in the general field of poultry farming and relates particularly to the treating of poultry eggs for improving hatching characteristics and the improved eggs produced thereby.
The demand for poultry and poultry eggs, especially chickens and chicken eggs has expanded considerably over the last decade. The poultry industry has grown from a home industry to a large scale manufacturing industry in which thousands of chickens and tens of thousands of eggs are produced daily at single poultry farms or egg laying installations. Some eggs are produced for eating and some eggs are produced for hatching. One problem with such large scale egg producing is egg breakage. Even a slight crack in an egg makes it unsuitable for hatching and most other marketing purposes. It is estimated that some six percent of all eggs produced are lost for marketing because of cracking or breakage. Shell strength is very important to inhibit breakage. The stronger the eggshell, the less likely the egg will be cracked or broken. Machinery and techniques necessary for carefully handling the eggs to avoid breakage are expensive and time consuming.
Eggs with weak shells also produce fewer chicks, poorer quality chicks, and ultimately poorer quality birds for either eating, laying or breeding. As eggshell strength is increased, the strength of the chick must also be increased or hatching will be severely inhibited.
An object of the present invention is to provide a treatment of the poultry egg itself whereby hatching parameters (including percentage of hatch) or health or strength characteristics are improved.
An important object of the present invention is to provide a means for treating poultry eggs for hatching whereby heavier or stronger, more vigorous chicks are produced. A related object is to provide improved avian eggs; i.e. eggs with improved hatching characteristics.
Another important object of the present invention is to provide a means for increasing the health, vigor or strength of the poultry chicks by treatment of the poultry egg itself prior to hatching. Other objects are mentioned below.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,564 discloses that the strength of poultry eggs can be substantially enhanced by adding a small amount of zeolite A to the diet of the laying poultry. Similarly, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,610,882 and 4,610,883 disclose that food utilization and liveability are increased when a small amount of zeolite A is added to the diet of poultry.
Zeolites are crystalline, hydrated aluminosilicates of alkali and alkaline earth cations, having infinite, three-dimensional structures.
Zeolites consist basically of a three-dimensional framework of SiO.sub.4 and AlO.sub.4 tetrahedra. The tetrahedra are crosslinked by the sharing of oxygen atoms so that the ratio of oxygen atoms to the total of the aluminum and silicon atoms is equal to two or O/(Al+Si)=2. The electrovalence of each tetrahedra containing aluminum is balanced by the inclusion in the crystal of a cation, for example, a sodium ion. This balance may be expressed by the formula Al/Na=1. The spaces between the tetrahedra are occupied by water molecules prior to dehydration.
Zeolite A may be distinguished from other zeolites and silicates on the basis of their composition and X-ray powder diffraction patterns and certain physical characteristics. The X-ray patterns for these zeolites are described below. The composition and density are among the characteristics which have been found to be important in identifying these zeolites.
The basic formula for all crystalline sodium zeolites may be represented as follows: EQU Na.sub.2 O.Al.sub.2 O.sub.3.xSiO.sub.2.yH.sub.2 O
In general, a particular crystalline zeolite will have values for "x" and "y" that fall in a definite range. The value "x" for a particular zeolite will vary somewhat since the aluminum atoms and the silicon atoms occupy essentially equivalent positions in the lattice. Minor variations in the relative number of these atoms do not significantly alter the crystal structure or physical properties of the zeolite. For zeolite A, the "x" value normally falls within the range 1.85.+-.0.5.
The value for "y" is not necessarily an invariant for all samples of zeolites. This is true because various exchangeable ions are of different size, and, since there is no major change in the crystal lattice dimensions upon ion exchange, the space available in the pores of the zeolite to accommodate water molecules varies. The average value for "y" for zeolite A is 5.1. The formula for zeolite A may be written as follows: EQU 1.0.+-.0.2Na.sub.2 OAl.sub.2 O.sub.3 1.85.+-.0.5SiO.sub.2 yH.sub.2 O
In the formula, "y" may be any value up to 6.
An ideal zeolite A has the following formula: EQU (NaAlSiO.sub.4).sub.12. 27H.sub.2 O
Among the ways of identifying zeolites and distinguishing them from other zeolites and other crystalline substances, the X-ray powder diffraction pattern has been found to be a useful tool. In obtaining the X-ray powder diffraction patterns, standard techniques are employed. The radiation is the K.alpha. doublet of copper and a Geiger counter spectrometer with a strip chart pen recorder is used. The peak heights, I, and the positions as a function of 2.theta. where .theta. is the Bragg angle, are read from a spectrometer chart. From these, the relative intensities, 100I/I.sub.o, where I.sub.o is the intensity of the strongest line or peak and d the interplanar spacing in angstroms corresponding to the recorded lines are calculated.
X-ray powder diffraction data for a sodium zeolite A are given in Table I.
TABLE I ______________________________________ X-RAY DIFFRACTION PATTERN FOR ZEOLITE A h.sup.2 + k.sup.2 + 1.sup.2 d (.ANG.) ##STR1## ______________________________________ 1 12.29 100 2 8.71 70 3 7.11 35 4 6.15 2 5 5.51 25 6 5.03 2 8 4.36 6 9 4.107 35 10 3.895 2 11 3.714 50 13 3.417 16 14 3.293 45 16 3.078 2 17 2.987 55 18 2.904 10 20 2.754 12 21 2.688 4 22 2.626 20 24 2.515 6 25 2.464 4 26 2.414 &gt;1 27 2.371 3 29 2.289 1 30 2.249 3 32 2.177 7 33 2.144 10 34 2.113 3 35 2.083 4 36 2.053 9 41 1.924 7 42 1.901 4 44 2.858 2 45 1.837 3 49 1.759 2 50 1.743 13 53 1.692 6 54 1.676 2 55 1.661 2 57 1.632 4 59 1.604 6 ______________________________________
The more significant d values for zeolite A are given in TABLE II
TABLE II ______________________________________ MOST SIGNIFICANT d VALUES FOR ZEOLITE A d Value of Reflection in .ANG. ______________________________________ 12.2 .+-. 0.2 8.7 .+-. 0.2 7.10 .+-. 0.15 5.50 .+-. 0.10 4.10 .+-. 0.10 3.70 .+-. 0.07 3.40 .+-. 0.06 3.29 .+-. 0.05 2.98 .+-. 0.05 2.62 .+-. 0.05 ______________________________________
Occasionally, additional lines not belonging to the pattern for the zeolite appear in a pattern along with the X-ray lines characteristic of that zeolite. This is an indication that one or more additional crystalline materials are mixed with the zeolite in the sample being tested. Small changes in line positions may also occur under these conditions. Such changes in no way hinder the identification of the X-ray patterns as belonging to the zeolite.
The particular X-ray technique and/or apparatus employed, the humidity, the temperature, the orientation of the powder crystals and other variables, all of which are well known and understood to those skilled in the art of X-ray crystallography or diffraction can cause some variations in the intensities and positions of the lines. These changes, even in those few instances where they become large, pose no problem to the skilled X-ray crystallographer in establishing identities. Thus, the X-ray data given herein to identify the lattice for a zeolite, are not to exclude those materials which, due to some variable mentioned or otherwise known to those skilled in the art, fail to show all of the lines, or show a few extra ones that are permissible in the cubic system of that zeolite, or show a slight shift in position of the lines, so as to give a slightly larger or smaller lattice parameter.
A simpler test described in "American Mineralogist," Vol. 28, page 545, 1943, permits a quick check of the silicon to aluminum ratio of the zeolite. According to the description of the test, zeolite minerals with a three-dimensional network that contains aluminum and silicon atoms in an atomic ratio of Al/Si=2/3=0.67, or greater, produce a gel when treated with hydrochloric acid. Zeolites having smaller aluminum to silicon ratios disintegrate in the presence of hydrochloric acid and precipitate silica. These tests were developed with natural zeolites and may vary slightly when applied to synthetic types.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,243 describes a process for making zeolite A comprising preparing a sodium-aluminum-silicate water mixture having an SiO.sub.2 :Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 mole ratio of from 0.5:1 to 1.5:1, and Na.sub.2 O/SiO.sub.2 mole ratio of from 0.8:1 to 3:1, and an H.sub.2 O/Na.sub.2 O mole ratio of from 35:1 to 200:1, maintaining the mixture at a temperature of from 20.degree. C. to 175.degree. C. until zeolite A is formed, and separating the zeolite A from the mother liquor.
Experiments have been in progress in Japan since 1965 on the use of natural zeolite minerals as dietary supplements for poultry, swine and cattle. Significant increases in body weight per unit of feed consumed and in the general health of the animals was reported (Minato, Hideo, Koatsugasu 5:536, 1968). Reductions in malodor were also noted.
Using clinoptilolite and mordenite from northern Japan, Onagi, T. (Rept. Yamagata Stock Raising Inst. 7, 1966) found that Leghorn chickens required less food and water and gained as much weight in a two-week trial as birds receiving a control diet. No adverse effects on health or mortality were noted. The foregoing Japanese experiments were reported by F. A. Mumpton and P. H. Fishman in the Journal of Animal Science, Vol. 45, No. 5 (1977) pp. 1188-1203.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,836,676 issued to Chukei Komakine in 1974 discloses the use of zeolites as adsorbent moisture of ferrous sulfate crystals in an odorless chicken feed comprising such crystals and chicken droppings. The results were said to be no less than those in the case where chickens were raised with ordinary feed.
Canadian Pat. No. 939,186 issued to White et al in 1974 discloses the use of zeolites having exchangeable cations as a feed component in the feeding of urea or biuret non-protein (NPR) compounds to ruminants, such as cattle, sheep and goats. Natural and synthetic as well as crystalline and non-crystalline zeolites are disclosed. Zeolites tested included natural zeolites, chabazite and clinoptilolite and synthetic zeolites X, Y, F, J, M, Z, and A. Zeolite F was by far the most outstanding and zeolite A was substantially ineffective.
An article by C. Y. Chung et al from Nongsa Sihom Youngu Pogo 1978, 20 (Livestock) pp. 77-83 discusses the effects of cation exchange capacity and particle size of zeolites on the growth, feed efficiency and feed materials utilizability of broilers or broiling size chickens. Supplementing the feed of the broilers with naturally occurring zeolites, such as clinoptilolite, some increase in body weight gain was determined. Chung et al also reported that earlier results at the Livestock Experiment Station (1974, 1975, 1976--Suweon, Korea) showed that no significant difference was observed when 1.5, 3, and 4.5 percent zeolite was added to chicken layer diets.
A study by H. S. Nakaue of feeding White Leghorn layers clinoptilolite, reported in 1981 Poultry Science 60:944-949, disclosed no significant differences in eggshell strength between hens receiving the zeolite in their diet and hens not receiving the zeolite in their diet.
In a study at the University of Georgia, both broilers and layers were fed small amounts (about 2%) of clinoptilolite, a naturally occurring zeolite from Tilden, Texas. The eggshells from the hens receiving zeolite were slightly more flexible as measured by deformation, slightly less strong as measured by Instron breaking strength, and had a slightly lower specific gravity. The differences in eggshell quality were very small. This type of zeolite was ineffective in producing a stronger eggshell. An article written by Larry Vest and John Shutze entitled "The Influence of Feeding Zeolites to Poultry Under Field Conditions" summarizing the studies was presented at Zeo-Agriculture '82.
An important object of the present invention is to provide an improved treatment for enhancing avian, e.g. poultry egg hatching characteristics or parameters, wherein a small amount of zeolite is introduced directly into the egg prior to hatching.
It is another object of the invention to provide a poultry egg treatment wherein a small amount of zeolite A is directly introduced into the poultry egg, which is to be subsequently hatched, without causing a deleterious effect on the egg itself.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved process for hatching of stronger, more vigorous and more energetic poultry chicks and turkey poults wherein an effective amount of zeolite, especially zeolite A, is added directly to the eggs for producing the poultry chicks.
Still another object of the invention is to cost effectively increase production of poultry chicks.
Further objects of the present invention are to increase the quality of fertilized eggs that will be subsequently hatched, and improve the quality of poultry chicks.
Other objects and advantages of the intention will be more fully understood from a reading of the description and claims hereinafter.